Polygynous marriage union among Ghanaian Christian women: Socio-demographic predictors

Introduction Polygamy has declined in the last decade, but it is still prevalent in West African nations including Ghana even with the arrival of Christianity and colonists, which came to be recognized as a form of slavery that needed to be abolished. Aim To analyze the determinants of polygyny among married Christian women in Ghana. Methods Ghana Maternal Health Survey data was used for this study to do an analytic cross-section study. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 20. The association between dependent and independent variables was explored using chi-square and logistic regression. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results The prevalence of Ghanaian Christian women’s involvement in polygyny marriage union was 12.2%, the prevalence was higher (15.0%) among women of Anglican denomination, catholic denomination (13.9%), and the lowest (8.4%) prevalence recorded among those of Methodist denominations. The predictor factors identified include the age of the woman, history of education, type of place of residence, region, ethnicity, early sex initiation, and history of multiple unions. Conclusion The prevalence of polygyny in this present study is high given the strict position the Christian religion has against polygyny. This study recommends that the pros and cons of polygyny are objectively looked at from a scientific point rather than a religious point of view.


Unfunded studies
Enter: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work. The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. NO

Introduction
Polygamy is a type of marriage in which several spouses are involved. It can happen as polygyny (when a man has multiple wives at the same time). It can also be polyandry (when a woman has multiple husbands at the same time), or polygynandry (concurrent marriage of two or more wives to two or more husbands) ( The most common form of polygamy is polygyny. More than 80% of preindustrial societies had it (Hassouneh-Phillips, 2001). Even though the global prevalence of polygyny is low, more than a third of the world's population lives in a community that allows it (Thobejane & Flora, 2014).
Polygyny has been practiced by various cultures throughout the world for many centuries. In most African countries, it has been an essential component of family law. However, with the arrival of Christianity and colonists, it came to be recognized as a form of slavery that needed abolishment. As a result, its prevalence has been steadily decreasing for decades. Despite this, it is still more prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) than anywhere else (Mwambene, 2017). The 'polygyny belt,' which stretches from Senegal in West Africa to Tanzania in East Africa, has the highest prevalence of polygyny in Africa (Jacoby, 1995). According to Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data, 11 percent, 27 percent, and 53 percent of marriages in Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast, and Guinea were polygynous (Bove & Valeggia, 2009). According to another DHS report, polygyny accounts for 25% of all marriages in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), 47% in Sierra Leone, and 53% in The Gambia (Trócaire, 2017).
Demographic factors such as high infant and child mortality, high male mortality and outmigration, and potentially lethal male activities such as hunting and military combat contribute to an excess supply of women and a scarcity of men, which can promote polygyny (Fulas, 2018;Gibson & Mace, 2007). Polygyny has become more common due to religion, particularly Mormonism and Islam. Age, place of residence, and household wealth all influence the prevalence of polygyny (Okorje, 1994;Strassmann, 1997 With the arrival of Christianity and colonists, it came to be recognized as a form of slavery that needed to be abolished (Mwambene, 2017). Polygamy has been a source of consternation for Christian missionaries. In the past, Christian mission institutions in a broad sense have been unable to reach an agreement on how to address this issue. In the highlands of New Guinea, for example, Roman Catholic and Lutheran missions condemn polygamy, refuse to baptize members of polygamous marriages, and demand that polygamous marriages be dissolved. They regard polygamy as a sin. Baptist and Methodist missions, but on the other hand, baptize those who entered a polygamous marriage before hearing the Gospel or, more particularly, before actually deciding to accept Christ. They do not regard polygamy to be a sin, but they believe it is not God's ideal. The view of all these missions is from the Bible (Holst, 1967). This has motivated this current study to conduct a multilevel analysis of determinants of polygyny among married Christian women in Ghana.

Materials and Methods
This study is based on data from for factors that showed a significant association at the bivariate level of analysis using chisquare. A p-value of less than 0.05 was used to define statistical significance.

Ethical consideration
The ICF Institutional Review Board approved the protocol for the 2017 GMHS. Meanwhile, ethical approval was not required for this study because it involved a secondary analysis of a dataset without exposing the respondents' and their households' identities. Nonetheless, permission to use the datasets in this study was obtained from ICF via the DHS program, and the data terms followed.

Demographic characteristics of study participants
The majority (70.2%) of the study participants were 30 years and above, and about 53.7% of them were residing in rural areas. The Christian domination that dominated the (49.1%) study participants was a Pentecostal or charismatic group and the region with dominant (16.4%) representation was the Upper East region. Moreover, the ethnic group with the majority (40.0%) representation was Akan. About half (50.4%) had early sexual initiation, 29.7% were into child marriage, and 14.8% had had more than one union experience.

Prevalence of Christian women involved in a polygyny marriage
The prevalence of Ghanaian Christian women's involvement in polygyny marriage union was 12.2%, the prevalence was higher (15.0%) among women of Anglican denomination, catholic denomination (13.9%), and the lowest (8.4%) prevalence recorded among those of Methodist denomination ( Figure 1). The majority (46.9%) of the women in the polygyny marriage union were first wives in terms of rank, and then 45.6% of them were second wives.

Factors associated with Christian women involved in a polygyny marriage
Chi-square analysis revealed that all independent variables included in the study had a significant association with Christian women involved in polygyny marriage (Table 2). These variables were further modeled using a binary logistics regression model to identify predictor variables of Christian women involved in polygyny marriage.
Firstly, the age of the women predicted they're involved in polygyny marriage, those aged 30 years and above were 540% more likely to involve in polygyny marriage union compared to those aged 15-19 years (AOR = 6.4, 95%, C.I = 2.7-14.9). Secondly, those without a history of education were 70% more likely to engage in polygyny marriage union compared to those with unions when compared to those of the Akan tribe (AOR =3.7, 95% CI=2.5-5.5). Furthermore, the Christian denomination the women belong to predicted their involvement in the polygyny marriage union. Those of Methodist denominations were 90% more likely to engage in polygyny marriage union compared to those of Catholic denominations (AOR = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.2-3.0). In addition, those of Presbyterian denominations were 70% more likely to engage in polygyny marriage union compared to those of Catholic denominations (AOR = 1.7, 95% CI = 1.1-2.6).
Again, those of Pentecostal/charismatic denominations were 40% more likely to engage in polygyny marriage union compared to those of Catholic denominations (AOR = 1.4, 95% CI = 1.2-1.8). Nevertheless, women with a history of the earlier sexual debut were 50% more likely to engage in polygyny marriage union compared to those without (AOR = 1.5, 95% CI=1.2-1.8).
Lastly, women with a history of in-union more than once were 80% more likely to engage in polygyny marriage union compared to those without (AOR = 1.8, 95% CI=1.5-2.2) ( Table 3).

Discussion
According to Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data, 11 percent, 27 percent, and 53 percent of marriages in Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast, and Guinea were polygynous (Bove & Valeggia, 2009). According to another DHS report, polygyny accounts for 25% of all marriages in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), 47% in Sierra Leone, and 53% in The Gambia (Trócaire, 2017). In Ghana, the prevalence is 21.6% (Adewale, Dey, Ansah, Duah, & Agbadi, 2021). With the arrival of Christianity and colonists, it came to be recognized as a form of slavery that needed abolishment. As a result, its prevalence has been steadily decreasing for decades. Despite this, it is still more prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) than anywhere else (Mwambene, 2017). This is evidenced in this present study, as polygyny was recorded to be 12.2% among Christians compared to 21.6% for the whole Ghana population, which included Muslims and traditional believers who accept the practice (Adewale, Dey, Ansah, Duah, & Agbadi, 2021). In most cases, a polygamous union is limited to two women per couple (SWAC/OECD, 2019). This explains the findings of this current study in which the majority were first wives and second wives in terms of wife's rank.
In the past, Roman Catholic and Lutheran missions condemn polygamy, refuse to baptize members of polygamous marriages, and demanded that polygamous marriages be dissolved.
They regard polygamy as a sin. Baptist and Methodist missions, but on the other hand, baptize those who entered a polygamous marriage before hearing the Gospel or, more particularly, before actually deciding to accept Christ. They do not regard polygamy to be a sin, but they believe it is not God's ideal. The view of all these missions is from the Bible (Holst, 1967).
However, this present study revealed a higher prevalence among women of Anglican and catholic denominations, and the lowest prevalence recorded among those of Methodist denominations. Meanwhile, further multiple variable analysis revealed that those of Methodist denominations were more likely to engage in polygyny marriage union compared to those of Catholic denominations. In addition, those of Presbyterian denominations were more likely to engage in polygyny marriage union compared to those of Catholic denominations. Again, those of Pentecostal/charismatic denominations were more likely to engage in polygyny marriage union compared to those of Catholic denominations.
Age may influence the prevalence of polygyny (Okorje, 1994;Strassmann, 1997). Many studies have identified polygyny as one of the factors that influence early marriage (Ahinkorah, 2021;Gaffney-Rhys, 2012). However, in this present study, child marriage did not predict polygyny among women, this further explained with those aged 30 years, and above are more likely, to involve in a polygyny marriage union compared to those aged 15-19 years. This study finding is Place of residence, level of education, and household wealth all influence the prevalence of polygyny (Okorje, 1994;Strassmann, 1997;CPS/MS, 2007). Poverty and education have a symbiotic relationship. This is because education provides knowledge and skills that lead to higher wages (Cremin & Nakabugo, 2012). When household funds are needed in most rural areas, parents are willing to forego their daughters' education and instead ask them to participate in economic activities to supplement household income (Morley, Leach, & Lugg, 2009;Morley, Lihamba, Mwaipopo, Forde, & Egbenya, 2010). Due to the increasing incidence of poverty in rural Sub-Saharan Africa, girls are vulnerable to very few alternative income opportunities other than inside the bounds of marriage, which can result in very rapid marriage transactions in both families (UNICEF, 2018). These relationships were repeated in this present study; those rural residents were more likely to engage in polygyny marriage compared to those urban residents. In addition, those without a history of education were more likely to engage in polygyny marriage unions compared to those with.
More so, the southern regions of Ghana are more urbanized than the northern regions of Ghana (GSS, 2014). This explains why those of the northern region were more likely to engage in polygyny marriage union compared to those of the Western region (southern region). This is a further clarification of why women of ethnic groups in northern regions were more likely to engage in polygyny marriage unions when compared to those of the Akan tribe of southern Ghana. Those of the Mole-Dagbani tribe were twice more likely to engage in polygyny marriage unions when compared to those of the Akan tribe. Again, those of the Gurma tribe were almost three times more likely to engage in polygyny marriage unions when compared to those of Akan.
Nevertheless, women with a history of the earlier sexual debut were more likely to engage in polygyny marriage unions compared to those without. In a recent study, the marriage status of women was associated with a history of earlier sexual debut (Alhassan, Abdulai, & Alhassan, 2021). Maybe women with early exposure to sex will prefer polygynous marriage instead of sticky to promiscuous sex. Ghana's male-to-female ratio was 102.79 males per 100 females in 2020, up from 102.62 males per 100 females in 2015, representing a 0.16 percent increase (Index mundi, 2021).
Lastly, women with a history of being in union more than once were more likely to engage in polygyny marriage unions compared to those without. This means that once married, women prefer polygynous marriage to being single and promiscuous sex.
This study is not without limitations as not all factors including economic factors were explored in this study. However, the strength of this study is that the dataset employed is the national presentative survey by demographic and health survey.

Conclusion
The prevalence of polygyny in this present study is high given the strict position the Christian religion has against polygyny. The predictor factors identified include the age of the woman, history of education, type of place of residence, region, ethnicity, early sex initiation, and history of multiple unions.

Data Availability
All dataset related to the findings of this study is available online at www.dhsprogram.com.

Conflict of Interest
There is no conflict of interest with this submission.

Funding Statement
Funding for this study was completed by Ghana Organization for Maternal and Child Health (GOMaCH).